In today’s Quick Hits, we offer some Facebook advice for parents, ponder the power of Web vigilantes, dig into a new study on Facebook privacy, and share Twitter security tips.

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What Your Kids Need to Know Before Joining Facebook

As soon as kids are legally allowed, and often before, they are joining Facebook. As a parent, what steps can you take to ensure your child is safe online? In this article for the Calgary Herald, mom and social networking pro Hessie Jones offers seven guidelines for parents. Jones’ article includes such sound tips as “friend only people you know” and other common sense, but often neglected, pieces of advice.

Has Web Vigilantism Gone Too Far?

In a world where uncovering someone’s identity is as easy as a quick Google search, has Web vigilantism gone too far? In the Washington Post, Melissa Bell argues that the kind of mob mentality that led to the recent Vancouver riots may have also manifested itself online in efforts to catch the rioters — and it’s only going to get easier. Quoting the article, “Tracking down identities — either to help or to punish someone — will get even more straightforward in the near future…Facebook already uses facial recognition to tag photographs. Identifying Vancouver rioters will be a lot easier when the technology does it all on its own. Whether that will strengthen or weaken the online community remains to be seen.”

Study Demonstrates Adults and Kids Equally Bad at Online Privacy

According to new research by the University of Guelph, older Facebook users are nearly as likely as their younger peers to disclose personal information online. Quoting a report on the study, “Thirty-five per cent of the young people and 29 per cent of the adults were at least somewhat likely to disclose personal information on Facebook.” Interestingly, the report also revealed that while they share slightly more personal information, young people are also more aware of the way that the information can be potentially harmful to their privacy and reputation.

Protecting Your Twitter Account with HTTPS

Following several high-profile Twitter hijackings, including one in which a Fox News account was hacked and used to tweet bogus news for several hours, TIME’s Techland blog offers this article on how to enable HTTPS during Twitter log-ins. While not a guarantee against intrusion, using an HTTPS secure log-in will give users an additional layer of security.